The News Lens
Date: 2017/01/27
By: By Justin Wei

Taiwaneseculture.org is part of the American Citizen for Taiwan Foundation, a non-profit organization created to introduce the Taiwanese culture and its world-famous cuisine to the American people. We believe that when Americans learn more about Taiwan and its culture they will become supporters of its people and future.

 

Enjoy one of the all-time favorite Taiwanese snacks!

Difficulty Level: Medium
Time ’till Eat: 90 minutes
Hands-on time: 50 minutes

Introduction and history of the dish

Chinese legend has it that Venetian merchant Marco Polo once had a Green Onion Pancake (蔥油餅, iû-tshang-piánn in Taiwanese, cōng yóubǐng in Mandarin) in China, and upon returning to Italy, missed it so much and tried to have someone recreate it. Unable to recreate the green onions inside the pancake, they tried to put it on top of the pancake instead, and the pizza was born.

We don’t know how much truth is there to this story, but Taiwanese love their Green Onion Pancake and could care less of if the pizza was its cousin at all. They can be served as breakfast, an afternoon snack, or as part of a meal. Green onion pancake vendors usually open shop near schools as students usually grab these as a snack at the end of the day.    [FULL  STORY]